July 2012

A book review in Science by Ricardo Basso Garcia brings some clarity to the issues behind the often reductionist field of neuroscience. Garcia reviewed a new book by Paolo Legrenzi and Carlo Umilta, Neuromania: On the Limits of Brain Science. He considers this book “a welcome appraisal of brain research to a broad audience” whose authors “focus on the limitations of the field, covering methodological aspects and controversial assumptions that are commonly unknown to the general public.” One such controversial assumption, stemming from observable changes in brain states via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other imaging methods, is that the brain generates the mind, culture, and politics. This is not justifiable, as Garcia argues: Legrenzi and Umilta put brain Read More ›